A pass for now on the Democratic mayoral contendersThe race for the Democratic nomination for mayor may make for interesting theater at times, such as during last weekends debate, but the race has been a disappointment on substance. The four frontline candidates are fighting to compete against a well-financed mayor who has done a pretty good job, and they have not yet made the case for making a change at City Hall.Talking PointNo light at the end of Nadlers rail-freight tunnelBy Carl Rosenstein
Although Congressman Nadler is rarely on the wrong side of the tracks when it comes to a congressional vote, I have to take exception with his grandiose dream to build a rail freight tunnel at a cost of X billions of dollars. This scheme should be derailed before the first bucket of muck is scooped out from under the harbor.NotebookFreud, Boulder, kids todayBy Andrei Codrescu
Boulder, Colorado, is more like itself every time I go there. Tourists from the 60s, now in their 60s themselves, stroll the pedestrian mall like it was their past. On a crisp sky-blue summer afternoon, two longhaired boys blew mightily into two long horns plugged into washing machine agitators attached by hoses to earphones strapped to the heads of a middle-aged couple who moaned in ecstasy with their eyes closed, prey to a big-time flashback. Then a naked bicycle gang went by with antiwar (Iraq) signs, a daily event that all locals (except the ones who live along the route) admire.

School: Pledge, teachers, decimals; what a nightmareBy Wilson
Be it public or private (and home-schooling sounds especially scary), school has always reminded me of a mental institution (think Willowbrook). For several years (due to an insane persons career path), I had to adjust to a wild assortment of different schools and their policies on new math vs. old, print vs. cursive, and one kooky 60s concept after another.

Villager photo by TomasCBGB the music club is at risk of losing its lease on the Bowery next week, but its T-shirt sales are a $2 million-a-year business and still going strong, as evidenced by this young punk at Union Square. Money from the T-shirts helps with legal fees and can help more as it [the effort to save the club] grows, said Hilly Kristal, CBGBs owner.

Developments on big projects build some hope maybe for someBy Lincoln Anderson
Although there was disappointment that two major development sites werent downzoned in the new West Village rezoning plan when the plan was certified last month, recent developments are giving some hope that the new projects may be moving in a more community-friendly direction.

Villager photo by Jefferson Siegel

As a photographer for The Villager tried to take a picture of developer Gregg Singer, he turned the tables by pulling out a digital camera and taking a photo of his own.

Gregg Singer pleads his case for his 19-story Acme dormBy Sarah Ferguson
Sporting lapel stickers that read NO LEASE/NO DORM, nearly 100 opponents packed the hearing room of the citys Board of Standards and Appeals on Aug. 16 to protest developer Gregg Singers dogged efforts to demolish the rear of the old P.S. 64 school at 605 E. Ninth St. in order to put up a 19-story dormitory.

InsidePerkins bill to let Council calendar landmark reviewsBy Albert Amateau
City Councilmember Bill Perkins last week introduced a bill to require the Landmarks Preservation Commission to calendar landmarks designation hearings on individual building or historic districts declared eligible for listing on the State Register of Historic Places.

Council thinks user study will be useful in park programming The Washington Square Park Council has launched a user study of Washington Square Park to determine how many people are using different park amenities, and how well the current park design supports peoples interests. The user study will include a survey and systematic observations and counts. There is no current usage data for the park, according to the council.

Lopez defends Fields against Stringer board reportBy Lincoln Anderson
Councilmember Margarita Lopez has clashed with Assemblymember Scott Stringer about the Union Square Park pavilion. Now the two Manhattan borough president candidates are not seeing eye to eye on the community boards.

Lopez defends Fields against Stringer board reportBy Lincoln Anderson
Councilmember Margarita Lopez has clashed with Assemblymember Scott Stringer about the Union Square Park pavilion. Now the two Manhattan borough president candidates are not seeing eye to eye on the community boards.

Bulge on Christopher St. has helicopters hurryingBy Lincoln Anderson
Interior demolition work at the building on the southeast corner of Hudson and Christopher Sts. caused the buildings north wall to bulge outward 4 inches and raised fears of a potential collapse on Tuesday afternoon.

Quinn says concretely that her vote cant be boughtBy Lincoln Anderson
City Councilmember Christine Quinn has been a leader of the effort to push through the rezoning and landmarking plans for the Far West Village at a speed not usually seen from City Hall. And she arranged in June for Amanda Burden, commissioner of City Planning, and Robert Tierney, commissioner of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, to attend a Community Board 2 Zoning Committee meeting to preview the tandem proposals  again, a rare occurrence.

Tenants feel empowered after vote on buyout billBy Albert Amateau
The City Council last week easily overrode Mayor Mike Bloombergs veto of the Tenant Empowerment Act, introduced by Councilmember Alan Jay Gerson, which gives tenants the right of first refusal to buy their buildings when landlords leave rent-subsidy programs.Horticulture versus health as gardeners battle clinicBy Vanessa Romo
Sixteen years ago, the empty lot at 321-325 E. Third St. was a squatters settlement and dumping ground used by neighboring residents and businesses, strewn with discarded mattresses and infested with rats. Today, it is half of Orchard Alley, one of the largest community gardens in the city and one of the prettier sites on the gritty Lower East Side block between Avenues C and D. But it might not stay that way much longer.

VILLAGER Arts & Entertainment

Stunning collection of rarely seen German artFred Ebbs personal art collection willed to the Morgan LibraryBy Jerry TallmerIn all the musicals that ever played on Broadway, there are few moments scarier than when an assemblage of beautiful blondish well-scrubbed pink-cheeked young men and women in their pastoral tree-lined beer garden rise to their feet during this harmless little nature-loving song and suddenly, as one verse follows another, clench it with tiger jaws into what it is really saying which, less disguised, is Today, Germany, tomorrow the entire world.

Cindy Blackman plays for BirdBlackman holds alto saxophone legend Charlie Yardbird Parker in high esteemBy Rick Mark
What do Charlie Parker and Lenny Kravitz have in common? Start with percussionist Cindy Blackman, who has been Kravitzs longtime drummer, and as a jazz player, will be appearing at the 13th Annual Charlie Parker Festival in Tompkins Square Park.

Good enough for BroadwayJoy looks at gay relationships with infectious energyBy Scott Harrah
In the mid-1990s, at the height of the AIDS crisis, most gay plays focused on how the community was dealing with the epidemic. In 1994, San Francisco playwright John Fisher penned Joy, a lighthearted look at gays and lesbians falling in love for the first time.

The Dell Dude shines Off-BroadwayBen Curtis turns to his true passion, theaterBy Scott Harrah
Dude, youre gettin a Dell!
Ben Curtis, who is currently starring in the hit Off-Broadway romantic comedy Joy in the West Village, will probably never live down that immortal catchphrase that made him an international celebrity five years ago. In 2000, the Tennessee native was just a teenager.

Koch On FilmBy Ed KochWedding Crashers (+)This is a marginal movie just over the cusp of acceptability. It is somewhat gross and definitely not for children.Pretty Persuasion (-)This parody involving three high-school girls is pretty boring.